I wish you all a Happy and a Healthy New Year for 2014 as well as the ability to look on the bright side of life. Let us all seek the half full cup even when it seems impossible. Let’s count our blessings even if we only find one or two, and look forward not backward.

Like this:

I glanced at the Horoscope page, which is something I rarely do and something caught my eye. I quote: You always think ahead and make plans for your future. A conversation with a water sign may not bring you the answers you are looking for, but will give you the information you need to hear. Those who know you best know how serious and responsible you are, and this week you will have little patience with people who don’t keep their promises. Shake off doubts from your past. You aren’t there any longer.

The last two lines were the ones that made an impression on me in particular. Shake off doubts from your past. You aren’t there any longer. No, I am not and that is why I have been trying so hard to move on, to find new interests, to look forward and to find the positive wherever I can. So, maybe I am doing the right thing after all?

When I am having a down day, I start off by having a glass of soda water. Then I treat myself to some chocolate and go for a brisk walk. I :call a friend who makes me laugh. I might call another who makes me feel good about myself.

I listen to my favorite music. I spend ten minutes browsing through snapshots of people I love. check out facebook, send emails to friends and family and I know that when I clean up the clutter in my apartment it helps me feel useful, especially if I get rid of things I will never use nor wear. I wear clothes that I feel good in and I offer to babysit my adorable grandchildren.

And then I feel ready to face the day and find all the positive things in my life. And there are many.

The most powerful nations in the world will be in London for the first-ever G8 Dementia Summit. Dementia has become a National Crisis. ‘As Prime Minister, I have met many of the 800,000 Dementia patients and listened to their stories. As a father, son and husband, I’ve been incredibly moved. Imagine what it must be like to watch someone you live slipping away from you, perhaps unable to recognize you. They have my pledge: We are transforming Britain’s response to Dementia.’

This condition costs Britain about 19 billion pounds a year, higher than the costs of cancer, heart disease or strokes. Dementia has been downplayed or mistaken for a natural part of the aging process.

First, the idea is to improve the diagnosis rates. Catch it early and life can be easier for so many. Britain as run an awareness campaign on television and got general practitioners to check more closely for signs of dementia. They are getting society involved in this fight back.

The most powerful nations in the world will sit around a table soon to discuss this to join forces on research and the national fight back against dementia will be matched by an international one and they will join forces when results come in.

Prime Minister Cameron, I am impressed. I don’t even live in England but my husband suffered from Alzheimer’s disease so I am all for what you are trying to do.

People with mental problems are our neigbors. They are members of our congregations, members of our families: they are everywhere in the country. (in the world)

If we ignore their cries for help, we will continue to participate in the anguish from which those cries for help come. A problem of this magnitude will not go away. And because it will not go away, and because of our spiritual commitments, we are compelled to take action.

While Christmas should be a time of joy, parties and family gatherings, there are people all over the world who are lonely. For others, the Christmas vacation means fun, relaxation and seeing relatives who live far away. It’s the time for families to spend time together. The reasons for sadness over this holiday can be because of grief, loneliness, illness, economic concerns or divorce, to quote a few.

Some people experience temporary feelings of depression like the ‘holiday blues’ or Seasonal Affective Disorder while many other live with mental illness every day. The holiday season is especially difficult when a person with a mental illness is dealing with feelings of sadness, loneliness, depression and anxiety which are the exact opposite of the ‘Merry Christmas’ images they see all around them – before, during and after the holiday season. My wish is that a miracle cure will be found for all the mental illnesses, as well as for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s Disease and other brain illnesses that have yet to be addressed.